Wyoming Lawmakers Advance Blockchain ‘Sandbox’ Bill

The Cowboy State is continuing its efforts to welcome blockchain and crypto startups, most recently by approving a bill to let blockchain startups to operate within a regulatory “sandbox” for a legislative vote.

The Wyoming House Committee on Minerals, Business and Economic Development unanimously approved its financial technology sandbox bill on Friday. The bill, if passed into law, would authorize the state to allow startups to test new technologies and determine how they might function within existing regulatory regimes.

This includes blockchain startups, according to the bill.

Caitlin Long, co-founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, noted that the state “already has an efficient approach to regulation compared to most other states.”

Many of the other states in the U.S. “can be very heavy-handed” with regulations, in particular with regard to financial services, Long told CoinDesk, adding:

“Wyoming’s sandbox provides a one-year alternative for innovators, and it can be extended for a second year. That’s a lot of runway for disruptors looking to try new things.”

While the bill has been passed through committee, this is just the first of 13 steps, Long noted, “though arguably [it is] the most important.”

The legislative session is scheduled to end in March, and she anticipates the entire process being completed within that timeframe.

While the sandbox bill has crossed the first hurdle, the special-purpose depository bank bill, which Long described as the “‘signature’ bill,” will not be voted on until Jan. 18.